This story was updated April 6 at 10:45 a.m. to include new information provided by the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing.
A former chief master sergeant was recently demoted by three ranks and jailed for more than a month after he admitted to distributing sexually explicit photos of himself and pursuing unprofessional relationships while deployed in 2021.
Chief Master Sgt. Jamie Kohr, senior enlisted leader of the 407th Air Expeditionary Group at Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, faced 11 allegations in violation of Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, according to a partially redacted charge sheet provided to Air Force Times. He pleaded guilty to dereliction of duty and to failure to obey an order or regulation.
The allegations spanned two accusations of willful sexual harassment, three of pursuing unprofessional relationships with three separate people, one of taking and sending sexually explicit pictures, one of possessing pornographic magazines, two of wrongfully giving alcohol to others, one of drinking alcohol and one of possessing alcohol.
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“All of the sexually explicit photographs are of the accused,” wing spokesperson Master Sgt. Arthur Wright told Air Force Times. The two sexual harassment allegations, as well as one charge of an unprofessional relationship, were withdrawn and dismissed at trial.
Kohr has spent time as a flight engineer and special missions aviation functional manager, according to his public Facebook profile. He has served in the Connecticut and Delaware Air National Guards, and worked at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, among others. His Facebook page says he is married.
Prosecuting Kohr took about two months. Each of the alleged incidents occurred between July and December 2021, according to the charge sheet.
Col. Jason Barnes, head of the 407th Air Expeditionary Group at Ali Al Salem and Kohr’s immediate commander, lodged the accusations shortly after. Wing commander Col. Clinton Wilson sent the charges on to trial Jan. 14.
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Kohr was removed from deployment and sentenced Feb. 15 following a special court-martial at Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts.
The senior noncommissioned officer was confined for 40 days and will now serve as a technical sergeant, according to the Air Force. He also received a formal reprimand and forfeited $2,900 from his paycheck, more than one-third of his monthly pay.
Kohr was named a 2012 SNCO of the Year by the Delaware Air National Guard’s 166th Airlift Wing and an Airman of the Quarter for July-September 2012, a Guard publication said at the time.
In 2014, he was honored for helping police from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey chase down a fugitive who was allegedly armed with a machete and accused of kidnapping, carjacking and arson in three states.
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“[A] hurt Port Authority cop jumped in Kohr’s personal car and they took off after [the suspect],” NJ.com reported in June 2014.
Kohr was told to follow their pursuit across the George Washington Bridge from Fort Lee, New Jersey, into upper Manhattan. Police caught the suspect farther north in the Bronx.
“The police union and [Port Authority Police Department] Chief Louie Komoutous honored Kohr in two events, including presenting him with the agency’s World Trade Center flag, which flew over One World Trade Center,” NJ.com wrote. “Port Authority police also gave Kohr — who served in Iraq and Afghanistan — a tour of the World Trade Center.”
Rachel Cohen is the editor of Air Force Times. She joined the publication as its senior reporter in March 2021. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Frederick News-Post (Md.), Air and Space Forces Magazine, Inside Defense, Inside Health Policy and elsewhere.